November 25. 
THE COTTAGE GAEHENEE. 
152 
who, I thinh, has for some time been far too fond of horses, dogs, 
hunting, shooting, fishing, racing, &c., and whom I, with all anxiety 
natural to a good mother, wish to see settled down in the world, and have 
accordingly looked pretty sharply out among the daughters of my friends, 
knowing too, that Master John had a great liking for the Misses Sensible, 
charming girls, one of whom I should be proud to call my daughter, and 
when I pressed the subject upon Master John—Oh! Mr. Editor, I 
thought I should hardly have got over it, he said—‘ Mother, I don’t re¬ 
ceive any encouragement from these ladies.’ ‘ Because you do not pay 
them sufficient attention. I will renew my invitations, and then you will 
have an opportunity of declaring yourself.’ ‘ Mother,* said he, with a 
deep sigh, ‘the one I love is going to be married to Mr. Foresight, so I 
have determined not to be again disappointed, but to settle down and 
take the Country Gentleman's Companitm for life.’ Oh ! Mr. Editor, 
what will become of our ancient house, if Master John, our oldest son, does 
not marry. Dear Sir, do add somethina: to the title, that will make him 
wish to have a companion.” We consider ourselves the injured 
party, in having our title so misconstrued. Eet our friend Martha tell 
jNfastcr John, that we do not call ourselves The Country Gentleman’s 
best Companion, but we ask to rank among the next to her, 
SiiEEP (A'.).—Buy them at the nearest fair, and get some farmer to 
help you with his judgment. They will thrive on pastures which have 
a clayey soil, though lighter soils are better. Ewes in lamb may ))e 
purchased. 
I Irrigating with Sew'age (A Learner), —As you have a tank at each 
I end of your plot, buy a moveable pump, and with this and some open 
troughs you may convey the sewage to trenches cut in any part, so as to 
irrigate each crop or bed effectually. 
Unfrrmented Sewage (H. Sandford ),—There can be no doubt, 
I either in theory or practice, as to its being best used fresh. None of the 
ammonia is then lost. The objections, and very valid ones, to using 
farm-yard manure in a fresh state are, that when in such state it prevents 
a tidy tillage, keeps the soil too hollow, and conveys the seeds of weeds 
into the soil. Our correspondent w’ould like to have some of the 
Potatoes mentioned by Leightoyi in 1850. 
Dahlias {A Subscriber), —We cannot name dealers. Any first-rate 
Florist could supply you. 
Bees.— il/ar/y says—“ Vour correspondent, ‘ Investigator,’ inquires 
whether it ever happens that a stock which has swarmed will swarm again 
with its young queen, after an interval of some weeks? In answer to 
this, I beg to refer him to The Shilling Jiee Book, where Mr. Golding 
says, ‘ I once had a swarm in August from a stock which had swarmed 
early in June.’ I have known other instances of this unusual circum¬ 
stance. I shall feel much obliged if ‘ Investigator ’ will kindly inform 
me whether, in cutting out the queen cells, he found it necessary to take 
out the combs, or whether merely turning up the hive was sufficient for 
that purpose ? My bees are in a barred box hive.” 
SiiANGiiAE Fowls. — K, residing in Lancashire, says “ The merits and 
demerits of Cochin-China fowls have of late been frequently treated of in 
your columns. But there is one point respecting which, I conclude the 
experience of the various writers in your pages and my own must differ 
considerably, and that is their great propensity to sitting. I hatched twelve 
(diickens of this breed on the 30th of I\Iarch last, three cocks and nine 
liens. Seven of the hens began to lay between the age of five and six 
months, and an eighth after it was six months old ; the ninth has not yet 
commenced laying. Most of them laid daily for a month, and at the end 
of that time ail have wanted to sit. Two of them have been allowed to 
do so; one on Aylesbury ducks* eggs, from which she has brought out a 
line brood of six, now ten days old ; and the other on her own eggs, and 
blie recently hatched four young ones. But nothing that can be thought 
of will overcome the propensity to sitting in the others. For the last 
month two of them have been in this state. Can any of your nume¬ 
rous readers tell me how to manage, for if every hen of this breed 
after laying twenty-eight or thirty eggs must be indulged in sitting it will 
liC a great drawback upon their value. All my friends in this neighbour¬ 
hood (North Lancashire) who have these fowls make the same complaint, 
itespecting their eating, my servant says that they are not large eaters 
for tlieir size. A friend of I’nine, in the adjoining town (Preston), says, 
that his fowls do not cost him on the average Ijd. per week, and he has 
j not any beside the purest Cochin-China.” We do not find our Shanghac 
I lowls more prone to sit than others. If they should require to ait at this 
! time of the year, we should let them remain on their nests without eggs 
l«>r three weeks, and then put them into a coop. The liroody furor will 
fiien have had its natural course, and they would begin to lay again just 
at the time it is desirable to have eggs for sitting. 
Work on Botany {P. 6’.).—A cheap and good elementary work is 
Henfrey’s Uudiments of Botany. 
Rose Drvoniensis (T- U ).—This is quite a modern variety. Any 
of the great rose-growers will supply it for about two or three shillings, 
according to the size. 
Bees (J. N . Willinyi). — Feed your bees immediately with a thick syrup 
of sugar, honey, and water, until they weigh full twenty pounds. If 
their food is all gone we fear you have little chance of saving them. 
Errata.— Page 105, col. 1, line 7 from the bottom, change “ Canna 
Indica shoots,” into “ Indian shots." Second column, fourth line from 
top, change "created" to "saved." 
Names ok Plants {Mr. U.). —We cannot yet make out your plant 
from the seed sent, but we will notice it again. {Killmallockensis)oxxrf^ 
is Physalis alkekengi. It is a hardy herbaceous plant. It is easily pro¬ 
pagated by parting the roots. We should not like to eat the berries, 
though it is said to be eaten by the Germans and Swiss. It is commonly 
called the Winter Cherry. 
CAT^ENDAR FOR DECEINIBER. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
Anemones, defend in bad weather; plant, if mild, for the last time 
till February. Auriculas, defend in inclement weather. Bulbs 
omitted, may he planted if the weather be mild. (See November). 
Carnations, defend in inclement weather. Composts, prepare. Cro¬ 
cuses, take up and pot in lumps, to force in pots. Dig over borders, 
and dress all quarters generally. Edgings, trim. Fibrous-rooted 
perennials and biennials, divide and plant. Flowers (choice), defend 
generally from inclement weather. Grass, roll occasionally, if winter be 
mild. Gravel, roll and keep orderly. Hawthorn, gather berries and 
bury in sand, to sow next October. Hedges, plant, and clip deciduous 
ones. Hyacinths, defend in inclement weather. Leaves, collect for 
compost. Mulch round the roots and stems of shrubs newly planted. 
Plant shrubs of all kinds. Potted Plants, protect in deep frames, 
ike. ; place in hothouse for forcing. Privet, gather seeds of, and make 
young shoots into cuttings in bad weather, lay them in damp sand or 
soil, and set next February. Prune all shrubs requiring regulation. 
Pruned Hoses, scrape bark, and wash with lime and soot. Ranun¬ 
culuses, defend in bad weather; plimt, if mild; seedlings of them 
require protection. Stake shrubs newly planted, anil any others re¬ 
quiring support. Suckers may be planted as removed during the 
winter dressing. Tulips, defend in bad weather. Turf may be laid 
in open weather. Uncover protected plants, and if not dry, place dry 
materials next them. Water in glasses, change weekly; add a few 
grains of salt, or five drops of spirit of hartshorn. Buy all your Trees 
and Shrubs forthwith, and put them in ground, preparatory for final 
planting in February. Think on the Ice-heap, and let leaves be ga¬ 
thered to cover it. See, also, that the ponds of water from which 5 'ou 
get ice are freed from leaves and sticks, &c. D. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE. 
Air, admit freely when the external temperature is above 35®, espe¬ 
cially among hard-wooded plants not desired to have early in bloom. 
'Phose growing freely, or in bloom, should have an average temperature 
at night of 45®. A warm greenhouse should be seldom lower. Azaleas 
for late blooming, keep cool. Those swelling their buds not below 45®. 
Bulbs, well-rooted in pots, place in gentle heat for early blooming ; put 
funnels of paper over the Hyacinths, to cause the stems of the early ones 
to rise freely; keep mice from the successions ; few tilings are better 
for this than cliopped furze. Calceolarias, Cinerarias, Camel¬ 
lias, &c., attend to with heat and moisture, according to the time you 
desire them to be in bloom ; the two first will require frequent fumi¬ 
gating. Chrysanthemums, waterfreely with manure water. Climbers, 
]irune generally, to give light to the plants beneath them. Passion- 
Jlowers may be pruned back to within a bud of the main shoots. Tecorna 
jasminoides will bloom best on longish, strongish shoots, the smaller, 
therefore, should be cut out; after the strength is thus moderated, by 
these flowering profusely, it may be spurred back, like Passion-flowers. 
Train and clean winter-flowering climbers, such as Kennedya Maryattcc, 
and various Tropceohims, such as tuberosum and pentaphyllum ; the 
latter, started in summer, will bloom all the winter, but the best for this 
purpose in a warm greenhouse, is Lubhiunum. Earth in pots and 
borders keep fresh by stirring. Geraniums, encourage the forwardest, 
when early blooming is desirable, with plenty of air, and a medium tem¬ 
perature of 45°, giving them plenty of air, and tying them out. Scarlets, 
taken up from flower-beds, and kept in boxes and sheds, keep dry. Keep 
old Calceolarias, so raised, moister. Heaths, keep cool, and give 
abundance of air in mild clear w'eather. Heat, by fires, apply when 
necessary; use a little covering in severe weather in preference to making 
the fires strong. Ixias, Gladioli, and the hardier Lilies, pot and 
set in a cold pit, to be protected from frost. Insects, keep under, by 
fumigating and scrubbing. Leaves, dirty, wash ; decayed, remove. 
Mignonette, take in a few pots now and then. Oxalis, give winter¬ 
blooming ones, such as lobata, plenty of light and water. Poinsettia 
PULCiiERHiMA will make a warm greenhouse gay now for several weeks. 
Primula (Chinese), introduce ; water with liquid-manure when it shows 
the flower-bud ; the double-white give a favourable and warm position ; as 
the flower stands well when out it is valuable for nosegays. Roses, anil 
other Shrubs, introduce for forcing ; commence at first with a top tem¬ 
perature of from 45® to 50® ; if the bottom-heat is from .5® to 10° higher, 
all the better. Salvia Splrndens. supply liberally with water, and 
give it a warm corner. Gesnera zebrina will still be a good accom¬ 
paniment, where the average night temperature is 45®. Salvia gesnene- 
fiora will succeed Splende^is in the spring. Succulents, keep dry, and 
Cactus especially, except the Tnuicatus, which will now be in bloom ; 
give it a warm position, or the blooms will not open freely. The same 
may be said as respects position, in the case of Oranges opening their 
liloom. Water seldom; he regulated by temperature, evaporation, and 
tlie wants of the plants ; when the flower-buds are swelling and opened, 
give it oftener, and after breakfast, and with the lii^uid rather higher than 
the temperature of the house. Temperature, 45° during the day, 40® 
at night, with 5® to 10® more, at a warm end, or a conservatory, for 
placing tenderer and forced flowers when first introduced, allowing in each 
case a rise of 10® or 15® for sun heat. In severe weather, prefer covering, 
even during the day, to large fires ; comparative darkness in a low tem¬ 
perature, for a short time, is preferable to light, and a parched atmos¬ 
phere. Young plants just potted-otF, or in their cutting-pots, sutler 
often at this season from two opposite causes. First, in the windows of 
sitting-rooms—the dry air exhausts them, and here, instead of soaking 
the roots, sponging and sprinkling its foliage, is tlie preventive. In pits 
and frames without fire-heat, with all the air you can give, some will 
damp-olF. Avoid everything of a wet or fermenting material against 
the walls or boarding. Two or three inches thick of wheat straw tied 
firmly against them will help to keep the inside both warm and dry. 
R, Fish. 
ORCHID HOUSE. 
Aebides, Saccolahiums, and similar plants, keep moderately dry. 
Air: excepting on very fine, bright, sunny mornings, when the heat 
of the aun and the fire combined raise the temperature too high, no air 
will be required this month. Blocks, plants on, syringe when the sun 
is likely to shine, Baskets with plants in, that are growing, dip in 
tepid water two or three times; those not growing dip only once. 
Baskets (new), make to be ready when wanted. Cockroaches, 
search for diligently, and destroy; lay poison for them; the best is 
